WAR IN THE MODERN WORLD

The Space Force

President Trump, who was elected to "drain the swamp," is sometimes inclined
to muddy it further, most recently by proposing a US Space Force to handle
warfare beyond the earth's atmosphere. This is usually presented as a sixth
military service, to go along with the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and
-- and what, I wonder?

No doubt Mr Trump is thinking of the Marine Corps, but that is actually
part of the Navy. (Its commandant, although a member of the Chiefs of Staff,
reports directly to the Chief of Naval Operations.) And the Coast Guard,
perhaps? In peacetime the Coasties belong to the Homeland Security department, and
in war, if mobilized, they become part of the Navy; but never are they a
military service in their own right.... Or the National Guard? Or the Reserve? Again, if they
fight, they fight as one of the three existing military services.

Three is plenty! Let the Air Force handle space warfare, just as the Navy
handles submarine warfare.

The Marine Rifle Squad

Speaking of the US Marines, it has undergone an earth-shaking change,
not at the top as Mr Trump proposes, but at the bottom. In May, the
Commandant added two men (no women as yet, I'm pretty sure) to the
13-man Marine rifle squad: an assistant squad leader and a "squad systems
operator" to handle the flow of information now available to warfighters.

Since overseeing 15 men would task the abilities of even a US Marine
sergeant, a man will be dropped from each of the squad's four-man fire
teams, resulting in a 12-man squad that is closer to what prevails in most
armies. And in the Marines, of course, everyone is a rifleman, so
the reduction in firepower is not as great as it seems. Blue skies! — Dan Ford